Since the beginning of “Operation Protective Edge”—which Israeli officials claim was launched against the Palestinian militant group Hamas—over 172 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured according to the Palestine News Network, a charity-run media network based in the West Bank. Hamas has reportedly shot back dozens of rockets into Israel, many of which have been intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system. No rocket deaths have been reported in Israel.

Around 4,000 Palestinians, residents of the northern Gaza Strip, left their homes and neighborhoods after being warned by the Israeli army to leave, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Sunday.

It also reported that the Israeli army was accused by a senior Palestinian health official of using internationally prohibited weapons in the assault against Gaza.

It was reported Sunday in Egyptian media that a number of political parties urged President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in a statement to permanently open the Rafah border crossing to receive refugees.

A security source told Youm7 Sunday that the border will be opened only to receive injured Palestinians and stranded Egyptians. The border was opened on Thursday and Saturday to receive wounded following the launch of the Israeli operation.

Gruesome pictures were circulated on social media websites of Palestinians injured in the Israeli offensive.

The pictures have led to widespread condemnation of Israel among people claiming to be Egyptian and using Arabic on social media. Hashtags #GazaUnderAttack and #GazaUnderFire have become popular on Twitter.

@Mahmoud_salmani said on his Twitter account, “The sound of Zionist strikes on Gaza Strip is clear to me here in Arish City, and in Rafah city we can feel the tremors.”

@_Adelsadani_ described the Hamas resistance in Gaza as a “brotherhood of resistance and not just a Palestinian resistance.”

@Abdurrahmanezz said events in Gaza by the militant group Hamas were “jihad and resistance” against the “Zionist enemy,” and he said there is a difference between the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Hamas in Gaza.

@FarahGalal1commented on a picture she posted of a female Israeli soldier and a Palestinian woman facing each other, which she captioned: “Look in my eyes and get out of my land.”

Egyptian television presenter Mona El-Chazly said in a tweet, “#Gaza is an open-air prison & 1 of the most densely populated places on earth. Any Israeli airstrike means certain death.”

“How can the Israeli soldiers sleep at night knowing how many innocent people they’ve killed?” tweeted @maansals on his Twitter account.